John 17 records Jesus’ last prayer before He went to the
Garden of Gethsemane, where He cried to God before His crucifixion. We don’t
have to ask what Jesus was feeling before He was crushed for us. His desire is
laid out clearly in John. He opens up His heart and lets us listen in on the
most intimate moments of His life on earth.

John 17:24-26 says: “Father I desire that they also whom You
gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have
given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

“O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have
known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them
Your name, and will declare it that the love with which You have loved Me may
be in them, and I in them.” read more
12:00AM EST 2/27/2012

In May 1984 Billy Graham spoke at Westminster Chapel. His
subject was “loneliness.” He took his text from a strange verse; Psalm 102:6,
in the King James Version, in which the psalmist likens himself to an owl in
the desert. Graham definitely hit a nerve! There are so many people today who
are lonely.

Loneliness is a painful condition, a dreaded state that,
given the choice, most people would do anything to avoid. It is enforced
solitude.

There is obviously a significant difference between enforced
solitude and chosen solitude. Some of us appreciate the bliss of solitude.
Jesus needed to get away from the crowds, and there are some who, by nature,
are loners; they love it that way. My friend Robert Amess calls himself “the
complete loner,” but he is not lonely. read more

Years ago, when my husband, Terry, and I were dating, I set
about to fix what I called the “perfect dinner” for Valentine’s Day. On the
menu were Terry’s favorites: baked pasta with marinara sauce smothered in
cheese, salad and buttery garlic bread. How difficult was that? In a word, highly!

You see I was a woman with an unsavory “kitchen past” and a
long list of disasters to prove it. My most recent one was when my popovers
(containing too much baking soda) exploded like hand grenades in the oven!

“Well, never mind,” I told myself, as I braved the kitchen
to fix theperfect dinner. Terry didn’t
need to know about my hidden disasters, just tonight’s grand performance of
undaunted love revealed perfectly on a red linen tablecloth. read more

The radio host was inviting his coast-to-coast listeners to
air a grievance or grudge against someone—their chance to get even. Or they
could call in and compliment someone. The choice was theirs!

Most were angry callers with a grudge and a beef to air. The
disturbing thing was that they were taking fiendish delight in putting people
down and flattening them before the public. The radio airwaves were thick with
tension and hate.

Then came the call that changed things. A sweet lady was
calling in to tell her teenage niece how much she loved her. “I want to throw
her a bouquet tonight,” she said, “to express my love for her.” read more

In Acts 27, the apostle Paul was a prisoner on a ship with
276 passengers onboard. Launching the voyage in the winter, the ship headed
into a violent sea storm, called Euroclydon. The ship tossed like a leaf in the
wind and was in danger of splitting into pieces. No stars or light from the
moon was seen for many days, and because of the dangerous rocks and quicksand,
it appeared that Paul and the passengers would drown in the murky waters.

Paul had been on an extended fast and was praying for God’s intervention. God released a heavenly
messenger to bring Paul this encouraging Word: read more

I was going to a birthday party. Like any great Pappy, I stopped on the way to the partyto get my grandson, Elijah, a present for his first
birthday. He was at the age where he mimicked sounds. If you asked him, “What
does a doggie say?” His reply was “Arf.”
How did he get to be so cute?

As I walked into the little toy area of a drug store, I spotted
the perfect toy. A drug store doesn’t have a really big toy section I found
out. But here it was: a cute, fuzzy, battery-operated puppy. A long cord was
attached to the toy, with a small box on the other end. It had two buttons on
it, to make the doggie bark and walk. Now this was a cool toy! It was well
worth the $5.99 price tag. read more

We are a product of what we say. This is true even in the business realm.
If you have ever been involved in sales of any type you will understand what I
mean. You are taught to set a goal and then tell other salespeople in your
district that you are going to sell a certain amount of goods during that
period. As you say it with your mouth, a certain amount of truth will enter
into the situation.

The reason is that we are created in God's image (see Gen. 1:27), and God
has what He says! When He said, "Let there be light," there was light
(v. 3). Since we are created in God's own image, we have the authority to open
our mouths and put in motion what we desire for the future. read more

There are times God sits you down and says, “Here are some
things you need to know!” When God brings you into that kind of season, it’s a
very special time. Treasure it! What He teaches you in a season of instruction
will equip you for all that lies ahead.

The children of Israel went on a journey through the
wilderness before they entered their promised land. In this entire journey, God
was working to accomplish one thing: to prepare a people for Himself. He was teaching them that they could trust Him; from
trust He would lead them into the fullness of His promise. He is the same today
and is doing His will the same today. God is working in your life to teach you
and strengthen your faith so that you can enter into the blessing He has
prepared for you. read more

The greatest joy one can know in
life is the presence and peace of God. As we open our hearts and spirits to Him
we give Him opportunity to speak to us and to fill us with His joy and peace.

The Bible tells us that in His
presence “is fullness of joy” (Ps. 16:11, NKJV). Because this is true, our most
important APPOINTMENT each day must be our time alone with God and His Word, a
time when He can speak to us and we can speak to Him.

Satan, our No. 1 enemy, would
rather have us do anything than keep this appointment. So we must ask for and
receive God's help in order to be faithful on a daily basis. read more
12:00AM EST 1/2/2012

Early one Sunday morning I found myself pacing back and
forth in front of the altar in my church’s sanctuary, crying out to God. With a
heavy heart I wept, asking God to send His glory to my church. “Please send
Your glory to us,” I pleaded.

That was when the Holy Spirit spoke these words to me,
“Fuchsia, what are you looking for?”

I replied emphatically, “The glory.”

He continued, “When the glory comes, what will it look
like?” read more

It was late afternoon on Christmas Eve. I was getting ready
to pay a visit with my church cell group to The Meadows nursing home. Each of
the five members of our group was to take a plate of cookies, to mingle a bit
and to wish everybody “Merry Christmas.”

The phone rang and changed that. It was Miss Evelyn, our
group leader, giving me short notice with a tall order that our little group
was now to “sing like a choir” to the group at The Meadows. “Well, they asked
us in good faith, so it’s up to us to have good faith that we can do it!”
stated Miss Evelyn. read more

What a value!
Last year, a colleague related an interesting story. Evidently, his daughter
needed some new Christmas plates. Those of us who are men should be very
grateful that God created women to live our lives with us. Otherwise, we would
use the same plates all year—even at holiday times.

Now, you can even decorate with a larger plate to go
underneath the regular plate. The larger plate (called a charger) is available
in a multitude of colors, one for each season and/or holiday. And of course,
they can’t go in the dishwasher because they are too delicate and must be
washed by hand. But, I digress. read more

In some liturgical circles, last Sunday, November 27, marked
the beginning of the season of Advent for the year 2011. This, the period
beginning four Sundays before Christmas, is the time of year during which we
prepare to celebrate the coming of the Lord. On a natural plane, we decorate
our homes and buy gifts for family and friends; on a spiritual plane, we purify
our hearts.

The spiritual tradition dates back to the days of John the
Baptist, a man who was appointed by God to announce the coming of Christ and
"prepare [His] way" (see Mal. 3:1) by encouraging the people to
repent of their sins. The Bible tells us, "The word of God came to John
the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around
the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it
is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying, 'The voice
of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord; make His
paths straight" ' " (Luke 3:2-4, NKJV). read more

When Adam and Eve were created, God gave them authority to
manage all matters on the earth. “The heaven, even the
heavens are the Lord’s; but the earth He has given to the children of men”
(Ps.115:16). Satan convinced them that God was holding out on them, and he
appealed to their pride to be all knowing like God (Gen. 3:5). Each of us has
an innate sin nature that wants to be boss, not just a steward of what God has
entrusted to us. However, stewardship is man’s role to represent God’s
interests and to execute His will on earth.

When man sinned in the Garden of Eden, that authority was
transferred to Satan. He was given free rein over the earth because of man’s
disobedience. It was not until Jesus came to earth and reclaimed that authority
through His death and payment of sin that man could stand against the power of
Satan (see Col. 1:19-20). read more

In the
Bible, we see God dignifying those who suffer and sharing in their pain. He
points us to the joy that is to come and gives us supernatural grace to triumph
over our suffering. One of the most helpful skills we can develop as believers
is the ability to meet Jesus in our own pain, therefore being able to lead
others to Him in theirs. read more

Have you ever looked through a kaleidoscope lens to see a
picture form, only to turn the base and experience an entirely new picture form
before your very eyes? I had this
kaleidoscope effect happen to me one day—surprisingly, at a time when I least
expected it.

I was sitting on the couch, feeling overwhelmed by some
challenges, and feeling less than up to facing any of them. This is when I prayed. And this is when
the kaleidoscope thing began to happen in a way that I could only describe as
supernatural of God. read more

Magnify. Growing up, we never had PlayStation, Wii or Xbox.
We lived on a small ranch in Colorado and had a lot of work to do. Cleaning
stalls, painting fences, irrigating the pasture and picking up rocks (Colorado
soil grows rocks) were necessities of
the life we lived.

My brother and I are only 17 months apart in age, and we
were really each other’s entertainment. We spent a lot of our spare time riding
our bikes and creating adventures. Our imaginations worked overtime to invent
new games. Cowboys and Indians was a favorite, as well as building forts and
hideouts. We even had a secret place in the hayloft of the barn. read more

One of life’s most perplexing mysteries is why bad things
happen to good people. We have all heard the stories of how the most dedicated
teenager in the church was abruptly killed in an automobile accident, or how
the beautiful young mother with three children is stricken with cancer and
suddenly passes, leaving her infants to be raised by loving family members. Why
the righteous suffer has always been an enigma.

There is no one set reason or explanation as to why bad
things happen. However, after years of ministry, I have some observations as to
what may, at times, help prevent bad
things from occurring: read more

When I first met my husband, Jim, he was a man with a past.
For the prior 15 years he had been a heroin addict on the streets of Chicago,
involved in every kind of sin imaginable. He had been an alcoholic as well, and
to support his addictive lifestyle he had become a criminal, spending much time
in jail. He had married and divorced not once, but four times.

On January 21, 1972, Jim knelt before the Lord and prayed a
very simple prayer: “God, I don’t know much about you, but if you’ll make me
happy like these Christians here [at Chicago Teen Challenge], I’ll do anything
you want me to do.” read more

What could be more important than finding God? Take a day, a
week or a month and do nothing but seek Him, persisting until you find Him. He
has promised, “You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all
your heart” (Jer. 29:13).

If we truly find Him, no one will have to tell us to be
humble. No one need convince us our old natures are as filthy rags. As we truly
find God, the things that are so highly esteemed among men will become
detestable in our sight (Luke 16:15). read more